Whisenhunt knows Hoyer, could reunite with him

Thursday

Jan 9, 2014 at 7:19 PM

Ken Whisenhunt is the hot name in the Browns' search for a head coach. Whisenhunt went to a Super Bowl with Kurt Warner, lost his foothold on the Cardinals job with Derek Anderson, and got to know Brian Hoyer before getting fired. Here's an inside look at the 51-year-old prospect.

Steve Doerschuk CantonRep.com sports writer @sdoerschukREP

The Great Lakes Classic developed into sort of a preseason joke.

Finally, the GLC has graduated to serious postseason business.

This episode of Lions vs. Browns could develop into a bidding war over head coaching prospect Ken Whisenhunt. He met with the Lions on Thursday and has interviews scheduled with the Titans today and Browns on Saturday.

Detroit struck out long-term and Cleveland whiffed short-term after hiring coordinators Jim Schwartz and Rob Chudzinski as first-time head coaches.

Both now might be eager to invest in Whisenhunt's much meatier credentials. The big selling points:

• He worked for six years on Bill Cowher's Pittsburgh staff before logging six years as the Arizona Cardinals' head coach.

• He has been in Super Bowls as a coordinator and as a head coach.

• He has a feel for Cleveland, having worked on the Browns' staff in 1999.

• He has a feel for Brian Hoyer, who started a game for him in 2012.

• He has a more striking presence than Chudzinski. His looks, speaking delivery and mannerisms resemble Cowher's — they could be brothers.

• At 51, he is close to the median age for NFL head coaches.

• He commands the locker-room credibility that goes with having been a tight end with the Falcons, Redskins and Jets.

There are other nuggets to suggest Browns owner Jimmy Haslam might put gold on the table for Whisenhunt.

Gerry Dulac, a Steelers writer well acquainted with Whisenhunt, hit two key points. One touched on what a hard sell candidates such as Green Bay quarterbacks coach Ben McAdoo would be: "Yeah, he's really made Aaron Rodgers what he is today." Appearing on WKNR, Dulac said he believes Haslam wanted to hire Whisenhunt last year but was talked out of it by CEO Joe Banner.

Whisenhunt was head coach of the Cardinals when they beat Philadelphia in the 2008 NFC championship game. It was the last of Andy Reid's NFC title games as head coach of the Eagles, whose president was Banner.

Whisenhunt's Cardinals then were on the verge of beating Arizona in Super Bowl XLIII before a desperate Pittsburgh rally was capped by a classic Santonio Holmes catch. Haslam attended the game as a minority owner of the Steelers.

Whisenhunt reached a Super Bowl in his second year with the Cardinals, when his quarterback was Kurt Warner. Whisenhunt's last hurrah was a 51-45 playoff win over Green Bay in the 2009 season. Warner retired. Whisenhunt's next three teams went:

• 5-11 with Derek Anderson, John Skelton and Max Hall making starts at quarterback.

• 8-8 with Skelton (seven starts) and Kevin Kolb (nine) at QB.

• 5-11 with Skelton, Kolb, Ryan Lindley and Hoyer making starts.

Whisenhunt was fired after the 2012 season and replaced by Bruce Arians. The Cardinals stayed on the Cowher tree, hiring Bruce Arians, who had worked with Whisenhunt in Pittsburgh.

Whisenhunt found work in 2013 as offensive coordinator for San Diego. The Chargers won 27-10 at Cincinnati on Sunday to advance to a playoff game at Denver.

If the Chargers win, as 9 1/2-point underdogs, Whisenhunt will have been part of Philip Rivers winning a duel with Peyton Manning. Whisenhunt's pricetag could go up.

One more selling point for Whisenhunt: Ray Horton probably would stay as defensive coordinator. Horton would have been in his third year as Whisenhunt's defensive coordinator in Arizona had Whisenhunt not been fired.

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